Making the Gender Equality Duty Real Dr Katrina Allen, Policy Officer Children in Scotland Project: ‘Making the Gender Equality Duty Real for Children, Young People and their Fathers’ Aberdeen 9 March 2010

IntroductionIntroduction Children in Scotland interest in gender equality issues Gender Equality Duty How project fits within broader gender equality picture Survey background and results Key issues to consider today Next steps for project

Children in Scotland gender equality lens Positive parenting support Maximising opportunities / life chances Safeguarding Physical, emotional development Education, skills Career paths Preparation for parenting/caring Safeguarding Recognising influence fathers + engagement with fathers Valuing caring roles

‘Making the GED Real’ project ‘Making the GED Real for Children, Young People and their Fathers’ is a 3 year project, funded by the Scottish Government Equality Unit ( ) Broad project objectives: Monitor and report on the implementation of the GED in Scotland Identify & share good practice examples

Project focus on challenging: Gender stereotyping – particularly associated with caring roles Occupational segregation in professions serving children and young people

Project focus on promoting: Opportunities & support for fathers to engage in positive parenting Support for fathers (as well as mothers) in the workplace Support for children & young people to choose from full range of education & career paths – without reference to gender

‘Fathers’ definition Term ‘father(s)’ includes: biological and ‘de facto’ fathers/male carers (e.g. stepdads, foster fathers, non- resident fathers and grandfathers)

The Gender Equality Duty Equality Act 2006 introduced the GED → general duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity & eliminate unlawful discrimination → specific duties for listed Scottish public bodies include: - Publish gender equality scheme (2007) - Assess impact of policies and practices on both women and men - Set gender equality objectives, plan & take action to achieve - Report annually & review progress every 3yrs (due 2010)

The GED does not mean… Single sex services should be cut New single sex services should not be funded Services must be provided on an equal basis for women & men Does mean… Different needs should be assessed

Gender Equality jigsaw How do we achieve equality? Equal Pay for equal work! End occupational segregation! Tackle gender- based violence! Value and support both men and women as carers Value and support both women and men in every workplace & political arena

Project within the bigger GE picture – other aspects of Gender Equality National GED focus so far on: - Equal Pay (Equal Pay Statements a requirement of specific public sector duties Scotland) - Occupational Segregation - Violence against Women Important not to lose sight of the connections between the different aspects of GE when focusing on specific areas! Key link: how we define feminine/masculine identity & ‘appropriate’ roles/attitudes/ behaviours

Project within the bigger GE picture – changing social context Men increasingly want to be more actively involved in children’s education & development – benefits recognised Increasingly fathers expected to fulfill caring roles and women to develop careers Increasing emphasis on work-life balance and shift towards cooperative ‘shared parenting’ ideal Job market shift from male-dominated industries to service sector jobs which are more open to women

Project within the bigger GE picture – policy and services context Historical association of Gender Equality with women’s rights – challenge to engage men constructively with ‘gender equality’ issues Historical legacy of focus on mothers – provides support but also reinforces traditional roles Current positive parenting, early years focus – recognition fathers’ role

Survey overview Focus 4 key areas – little attention GES/ reporting: Engagement of fathers with services for children & families Recruiting men to children’s sector workforce Challenging stereotypes in educational and career choices of children & young people Supporting fathers in the workplace Aims: Collate base-line data to track national progress Increase understanding of opportunities & barriers Systematically identify good practice examples

Survey methods Combination qualitative & quantitative questions Invited all 32 LAs & 14 NHS Boards to respond 2 tailored questionnaires (LA, NHS) Balance between strategic perspectives & experiences of frontline staff 131 responses from 30 LAs – across education, children’s services, social work, human resources & corporate services 30 responses from 9 NHS Boards – clinical staff, managers, policy & equalities officers

Responses overview Broadly positive about the GED & its potential impacts Highlighted a no. of weaknesses & obstacles to effective implementation Diversity of priorities – in line with wide range of respondents Disconnect between GES priorities and objectives & activities within specific service areas = missed opportunity?

Strengths & weaknesses Key strengths Effective systems in place Training staff Focused leadership And appointing dedicated equalities officers Key weaknesses Delivering change in practice – no. 1 Lack of management leadership & coordination Low levels awareness & understanding gender equality issues

Obstacles to implementation Lack of time & capacity Lack of staff ‘buy-in’ to gender equality agenda (including managers) Competing priorities – equalities & for service delivery Perceived administrative burden Gender equality treated as ‘bolt-on’ not a core value in service delivery

3 tiers of engagement specific fathers fathers parents / carers

Key messages Targeting men/fathers requires thought to issues such as: Timing Language Images ‘Hooks’ to engage Ongoing support

Key messages ‘Gender neutral’ = ‘gender blind’ if different needs missed “Gender issues in day-to-day practice can be a hard concept for people to understand when the system traditionally feels it should treat everybody the same” “Lack of understanding from some quarters about why there is so much focus on equality when patients are treated as individuals”

Key messages Cultural change is not an easy or fast process “I was explaining local authority work to a P7 class. I asked the pupils why we had so few women councillors. One girl said: ‘I think men are better at that sort of thing’… I did not hear any opposition from her fellow pupils” “Consultation with a gender focus has been difficult… There wasn’t the interest in gender issues from either employees or community groups that there were for the other two equality strands of race and disability”

In summary GED Schemes & Reports not capturing breadth of gender equality related activities & approaches – nor impacts Substantial professional engagement with range of interconnected gender equality issues Potential for ‘gender equality’ initiatives with much wider benefits for children & families as service users High demand for info. & opportunities to share practice examples

Questions for today How can GED schemes & reporting be better linked to wider, gender equality related practice? How can we build coherent strategies that support long term cultural change & complementary measures across service areas? How can we get people more interested in gender equality issues? How can we find the right balance between routine involvement of men in mainstream services & tailored, men-only initiatives/services? How do we target specific groups (e.g. men in childcare work, young fathers) without reinforcing stereotypes?

Next steps Summary report of 2 events Website development – case studies – links to other sites/info. sources Follow-up survey 2011 And finally…

Contact: Kat Allen, Policy Officer, Children in Scotland Tel: Thank you!